Let me back up. Last weekend Saturday and Sunday Julie experienced severe abdominal pain. On a scale of one to ten Julie rated the pain at a 9. Since she's got a pretty high pain tolerance we were concerned. Last Saturday the episode lasted for 2 hours or so. Last Sunday it was up to 6 hours before she felt relief.
So, we set up an appointment with our doctor early last week and Julie went in. After sharing her symptoms and family history she encouraged Julie to get some heartburn medicine and take it if, or when, she had similar symptoms. Heartburn? Well, okay - we'll give it a try.
Throughout the week Julie felt great, slept well and participated in all her normal activities. We were cautiously hopeful that perhaps the situation had stabilized.
Last night the symptoms came back - with a vengeance. About 9 PM she started sensing that something might be wrong. By 11:00 she had taken the heartburn medicine and we were hoping it would have some impact. By 1:30 am we were on our way to the hospital as Julie was having severe abdominal pain and she just couldn't bear it any longer. After checking in, getting her blood drawn, being poked and prodded and having an ultrasound she was finally administered morphine which brought some much needed respite from the pain. It was a relief to see her be able to relax and doze a bit after such a long night of discomfort.
About an hour later the affects of the morphine had worn off and she got a refresher while we waited to hear back from the doctor.
Finally, the doctor met with us and shared that her gall bladder has many gall stones which are causing inflammation and the accompanying pain. He then advised us that it's got to go. It's time.
After making an appointment in the morning for Julie to meet with a surgeon we were released and came home; exhausted but happy that we finally had some conclusive answers and a plan to resolve the issue. We are thankful for that.
We got some much needed sleep throughout the day, have filled a prescription for pain meds just in case we have a recurrence tonight and are hopeful that we will get a good nights sleep.
Please keep Julie in your thoughts and prayers during the week. We'll keep you up to date with plans for surgery. And - it looks like I'll be out buying a little bell Julie can use during her recovery to summon me for help ;)
1 comment:
Glad you were able to determine what the problem was! Hope they don't make you wait too long to have it removed! Praying that all goes well and you have a quick recovery!
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